Bible and Religious Literature Translation and Indigenous Religious Texts: Printing Operations and the Production of Texts in Japan, 1549–1912

Abstract

This chapter explores the creation, importation, and publication of texts by Roman Catholic missionaries and their converts in Japan between 1549 and 1912. It primarily focuses on the efforts of Jesuit missionaries in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to create and print religious materials. Following this, the chapter explores the evolution of literary traditions among the hidden Kirishitan during the Edo period and missionary endeavors to print and produce texts following the (“re-”)establishment of the mission during the nineteenth century. As such, the chapter focuses on two primary figures, Alessandro Valignano, who pioneered Jesuit printing operations during the late sixteenth century, and Bernard Petitjean, who made efforts to print materials for the descendants of sixteenth and seventeenth century converts who joined the Church during the second half of the nineteenth century. The chapter argues that the sort of texts that missionaries and converts sought to compose and publish was inextricably linked to and shaped by wider sociopolitical contexts and the limitations acting upon the mission. Furthermore, the chapter suggests that texts produced by Catholics in Japan both reflected and shaped Catholic faith and practice.